Cello Sonata No. 1 in D Minor

Gabriel Fauré wrote his first cello sonata in 1917, at a singularly challenging time. Although over 70, due to World War I he was still director of the Paris Conservatoire; he was anxious about his younger son, who was serving in the hostilities; and he was losing what remained of his hearing, a condition that distorted his perception of pitch. His late music often seems to capture his increasing sense of isolation. The Cello Sonata No. 1 opens with a new version of a theme that Fauré had created decades before for his sole symphony; he was starting occasionally to recycle themes from his early, unpublished works. Nevertheless, the sonata holds the essence of his streamlined and questing late style. The first movement’s energetic, spiky opening and poetic second subject are supremely concentrated, full of free-flowing harmonic twists. The second movement (“Andante”) mingles pure songfulness with a deep sense of mystery. As for the sunny finale, many interpreters have considered its metronome mark much too slow—some have even recorded two different versions at contrasting speeds. Either way, it forms a generous-spirited conclusion.